Device for locking nuts and the like



0. NETTLEFOLD. DEVICE FOR LOCKING NUTS AND THE UKE.

' APPLICATION FILED FEB. I0. r920.

1,366,273. Patefited Jan, 18, 1921 QQW W ha OFFICE.

j f-oswa nn nE'r'rL-Eronn, or Lennon, ENGLAND.

j Dev ce-son oci:

- Toa'ZZ whom it may concern."

Be it known thatI, OswALD N ETTLEFOLD, a

*subject of. the King'of Great Britain, residing in London, England,'have invented certain new and useful Improvementsji'n De-.

vices for Locking Nuts andv the like, of which thefollowing is a specification- The object of this invention is to -provide a cheap and effective devicefor preventing the unscrewing of nuts or the like otherwise than by design. The device is applicable to any'nut having a fiat side or sides without. any modification whatever, either of the nut or of the bolt or stud. towhich it is ap plied, and also in a modified'form to turret nuts or to any nut or the like having a circular periphery, as long as it is provided with tommy holes or their equivalent either on the edge or the face. Other cases can be met by a simple and inexpensive modification of the nut orthe like.

The improved device consists essentially of a metal band adapted to engagea thread or threads of the bolt-or stud to which the nut is applied and in the locking position;

to be anchored to the nut 'at its two ends with the band in tension closely. engaging and cross threading one or more of the threads of the bolt.

Although the invention will be herein-.

" any skilled mechanic to other shapes of nuts,

screwed glands or the like.

In the accompanying drawings Figure'l.

is a plan View of a hexagonal nut on a bolt showing one form of the improved device applied thereto in the locking position; Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3

is a front elevation and Fig. 4 a correspond,

mg view with the device at lock free;

Fig. 5 is a plan viewshowing a modified construction of locking device; Fig. 6 is a 7 front elevationand Fig. 7 a sideelevation showing a further modification.

i In the various constructions shown the locking'device consistsof a loop of spring steel wire a bent approximately to the diameter of the bolt 1) and embracing more than half its periphery. That end of the loop which is anchored to the nut when the device is applied will be identified throughout this description as the anchored end, while the s emcaubn 6: Letters Patent.

ino-nursnnn 'rnn LVIKE." i

other end which 'isanchored to the nut only in the. lock-fast? condition of the device will be called the locking end. 1

In the construction of Figs. -14, the an- 1 chored end of thealoop a takes the form of a second loop Ior hooked part 0 at right"- angles to the plane of the loop a and adapted to; set fiat'against .one of the sidesof thehexagon nu't :d, the end 0- of :the loop 0 proecting. a certain distance above the top or face of the nut'to act as a stop for the free end a-Uof. the loop a which in the lock-fast position shown in Figs. 1 and 3 is sprung over the stop 0' and so anchored to the nut. it will be seen that in the lock-fast position the loop a is close down on the top of the nut at one point and crosses the thread of the bolt at ,an intermediate point of its length so .as to lie partly in the thread nearest the face of the bolt and partly in the next thread.

It is essential that the loop a should be held cross-threaded in this manner in the lock-fast condition of the device. For example, if the locking device shown in Figs. 1% is applied by placing the loop 0 flat against one of the hexagon 'fiats of the nut and the loop a tlat against the top of the nut and coaxial therewith and screwing the nut and locking device together on to the bolt until the nut is tight against its Work, the device is made lock-fast by springingthe end a. over the stop a and the height of this stop above the face or top of the nut ll'illSt be sufficient to insure the cross threading of the loop :a when springing one end over the other. Alternatively the loop a itself or the ends thereof, or the means for anchoring these ends, must be so formed that however applied the loops will crossthread the bolt in the lock-fast condition of the device.

To unlock the nut it is necessary merely to spring the locking end a of the loop over the stop 0' into the lock-free position shown inFig. 4, thereby relieving the tension on the loop'a and enabling the nut tobe unscrewed. It will be noted that with ithe device in the lock-free condition the nut can be unscrewed freely just as easily as any ordlnary nut to which no'locking device is applied and does not demand the use of a spanner in unscrewing.

Patented Jan. s, 1921., y

7 engage in holes 6 formed in the mat. Cross threading of the devicein the lock-fast con-Vv :ditioh may b'e insiired in this case by mak *ing oneof'the holes e-of ,1ess, .depth. than 3 5 theother or one otthef'inturnedends of I v V TheVdis-y i V ma ma-wean n holes ef'a'nd. the diameterof the loop axis such that. when -the. locking f 7 end of the loop issprung'into: its stop'hole '10" e thexlo.op;will. be in tension and inclose J greater length than they other.

engagement with ;the: thread of the bolt.

The modified construction shownhin Figsf 1.16 and 7 differs froni that last. described only in the substitutionef theslct's j inone of the'sides ofthenut' for the :holes e in the top'thereof. The same device maybe applied for insuring-cross-threading", viz. mak fi ing one of thelslots fs-horter than :the down Wardly turned end zofthe 100p hichen' 2 0 gages inthat slot p c The/size of the .vvire'used for. the device may vary considerably, the limits depending Di -"(3011156 upon the size of the thread on thexbolt, but it'is preferable thatthe di- "2 5 ameter of thewire should besuch that When fitting snugly inthe thread the surface of the .wire should project beyond the ridge of the thread. 'As shown in Figs. 1%, the

wire may he ot flattened section (or it may be' .of. any other snitablefsection), the flat "being provided inthis case morepartici v :lar'ly to enable the loop 0 to he snugly fitted against the side of the nut. V

' 'I-iaving'thns' described the nature of the I 7 s'aid 'invention and the best means I kIIOW 7 o l earryingithe same i'nto'practical effect, I claim nut "atvbothendswvith the band closelyiengaging and erms-threading' thetthread of. I

the bolt in theylock-sfasti position, substantiallyas 'clescribedi I OSWVAVIQJD NE TLEFOLD;

device for locking nuts or-the like, consisting o'f fametaliband adapted'to engage'thethread of the bolt or stud to :WhlCh "40 the nut is applied and to be anchored to the. I 1 

